NHS England Approves Pharmacy Application for St Day

30 June 2015

Media release

NHS England approves pharmacy application for St Day

NHS England has approved an application for the creation of a new pharmacy outlet in St Day, following a rigorous process to ensure that it met all necessary criteria.

The decision allows Day Lewis Pharmacy to open a new chemist’s shop, which would be able to offer services including the sale of over-the-counter products as well as dispensing prescriptions.

While the doctors’ surgery in St Day can dispense prescriptions to some residents at present, local people have to travel to Redruth to for a full range of pharmacy services. The pharmacy would be open longer hours than the current surgery dispensary, including on Saturday mornings.

Day Lewis has also offered to work with the local doctors’ surgery – part of the Homecroft practice - in developing a new medical/pharmacy building. The surgery is currently in a domestic dwelling.

Approval was given by the South West Pharmaceutical Services Regulations Committee, which applied detailed legal rules that govern the opening and location of pharmacies. As well as receiving written evidence from local pharmacies and GP practices, and letters from the wider public, NHS England held a hearing earlier this month for interested parties - including local parish councils - to state their case.

The decision means that, once the pharmacy opens, people living within 1.6km will no longer be able to have their medicines dispensed at St Day GP surgery.

Many members of the public had raised concerns that the opening of a new pharmacy might undermine the surgery’s medical work. However, funding for medical services is separate and would not be affected by this decision.

The committee reviewed confidential financial evidence submitted by GP practices on the possible adverse impact of the loss of dispensing. However, the committee did not find the case proved, in line with the regulations.

It also bore in mind a 1996 court case in which Mr Justice Carnwath said: It is not part of the scheme of those regulations or indeed of the statute that pharmaceutical services should be relied upon to provide financial underpinning for medical services which are intended to be financed in other ways.

In a statement after the hearing, South West Pharmaceutical Services Regulations Committee said: “We were very aware of the amount of local interest in this application, but our decision was reached strictly in line with objective criteria that apply across the country and are designed to provide the best outcomes for patients.

“In our view, a new pharmacy would give people in and around St Day access to a much wider range of pharmaceutical services, open longer hours, without having to make the trip to Redruth. At the same time, the surgery’s income for its medical work will be unaffected.

“Day Lewis has also stressed how it wants to support and co-exist with local GPs, so its offer to work towards new medical/pharmacy premises is a promising sign.

“Even so, this is not necessarily the end of the process. Local practices and pharmacies involved in the process have the right of appeal if they want to test our decision further, while Day Lewis will have to decide whether it wishes to proceed with opening a new pharmacy in St Day.”